1. Field on the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip housing for accommodating a chip structure, e.g., a micromechanical sensor having reduced vibration induced in the chip structure.
2. Description of Related Art
As part of standardized fabrication, electronic components and micromechanical sensors are packaged in housings having prepared contact means which are normally fixedly connected to larger circuit structures, usually printed circuit boards or other supports. Due to the susceptibility of micromechanical sensors to stress, so-called premold housings have become established for their packaging, the basic structure of which is formed by casting before the connection between the actual chip structure having sensor functions and the housing accommodating this chip structure is produced. To this end, the chip structure is normally adhesively joined to a central area of the premold housing, for example by gluing one side of the chip structure to the bottom area of a prepared cavity. The housing is subsequently sealed.
In particular, micromechanical sensors used for various acceleration and motion sensors must themselves be protected against interference accelerations in order to avoid damage or malfunctions. Such interference accelerations can impact the component concerned through shock, or induced vibrations can impact the particular sensor via inadequately damped support structures. The danger of induced vibrations is in particular great when the sensors are used in the area of the vehicle electronic system. Therefore, it is attempted to keep the named influences low through design measures.
Such design measures include in particular the selection of an installation location, during the manufacture of the vehicle, which is exposed to only a limited degree of interference accelerations and a shockproof or vibration-damped installation of the assembly supporting a component sensitive to interference accelerations. The expense for a vibration-damped installation is presently relatively high due to the fact that entire printed circuit boards or built-in devices must usually be isolated from the rest of the vehicle with respect to vibration. The limitation to installation locations with low exposure to interference accelerations is in part associated with a similarly high expense, as it is frequently not possible or desirable to accommodate the complete assembly or the complete built-in device at the installation location coming into question for the placement of the micromechanical sensor, which may give rise to considerable expense for connecting the actual sensor and downstream analysis electronics. Both approaches are thus burdened by undesirable cost factors and limit the flexibility, in particular in the use of encapusulated micromechanical sensors.